UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: A priest of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus ordained in 1951, Leary spent his career in higher education, founding several schools and establishing a reputation as a brilliant and charismatic innovator. Allegations that he was sexually abusing boys and young men began to surface in 1965 or 1966. Leary was president of Gonzaga University at the time; he was allowed to keep his post. In 1969 Spokane police were receiving reports of Leary’s sexual abuse. They went to the Jesuits with the offer that Leary would be spared arrest if he left town within 24 hours; Leary was quietly sent away to a Jesuit boys’ school in Lenox, MA to “recuperate.” He went on to live and work in Logan, UT, Santa Clara, CA, San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Reno, NV and Portland, OR. The Oregon Province Jesuits in 2006 claimed they didn’t learn the details of allegations against Leary until 2006; they said documents show he may have abused “as many as” 12 youths.
Ordained: 1951
Died: Dec. 21, 1993
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